Chicago Cubs: 4 Moves to Accelerate the Rebuilding Process

With the Cubs currently tied for the worst record in the majors at 15-32, the expectation is that newly minted President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein will be making some major moves to accelerate the Cubs' rebuilding process.

Epstein will have at his disposal a middle-of-the-road farm system, some aging veteran trade bait and a flexible payroll to help turn things around.

Call Up Josh Vitters

One of the few bright spots for the Cubs this season has been the play of their young middle infielders, Starlin Castro (.313 BA/.322 OBP/3 HR/28 RBI) and Darwin Barney (.259/.308/1/10).

With the SS and 2B positions seemingly set for the immediate future, it's time to look to round out the infield.

Current third baseman Ian Stewart is struggling at the plate (.193 BA), and even factoring in his walks, his OBP is a meager .283.

That opens the door for top prospect Josh Vitters to be called up to the majors.

Vitters was Baseball America's top prospect in the Cubs' farm system in 2008 and 2009 while playing A and High-A ball. After hitting .283/.322/14/81 at AA Tennessee, he started 2012 at AAA Iowa, where he's currently .270/.318/5/22.

Take Advantage of Current Payroll Flexibility

For the first time since 2007, the Cubs started the 2012 campaign with a team payroll under $100 million.

This allows them the option to trade for a player in the last year of his contract and re-sign to a long-term deal, or to make several offseason free-agent acquisitions.

With holes in the starting rotation, Eric Bedard, Francisco Liriano and Jason Marquis are all viable options that may be trade-affordable for the Cubs.

This is the first time in awhile the Cubs have had any breathing room in their payroll. Having survived payroll hell over the last several seasons, no team should better understand that just because you have money doesn't necessarily mean you have to spend it.

While it would be nice to make a big-splash free-agent signing, the focus should be on avoiding the high-payout long-term commitments similar to those made to Soriano.

Avoiding these should allow them to win soon and still have flexibility down the road.